The Personality Paradox
by harrietspecter
Summary: Meet two girls; a physicists and an athlete, Penny and Amy; and meet their new neighbours; gym-junkies, Sheldon and Leonard - Alternate universe, characters in opposite positions; rating subject to change. Enjoy, and definitely review, please.
1. Chapter 1

**The Personality Paradox**

**A/N: Well I am on School Holidays, so I thought I'd start a new fic, because I have no life. Let me know what you think, this is AU; because they are definitely not in character. Follow my instagram, if you want; lenny_tbbt! And please review, because reviews are what makes me want to keep writing 3**

"Quick Amy, grab the popcorn, Babylon 5 is about to start!"

"Penny, you know I hate Babylon 5, can't we just watch the reruns of Firefly on the Sy-Fy channel. And move over, you are in my spot."

Penny snatched the popcorn from Amy, as she slid across the couch, and pressed play on the Foxtel controller. Amy groaned, as she had to endure another hour of her least favourite program.

It was midday on a Saturday, and this Saturday was spent the way all of their other Saturday's were spent, minus the third member of their 'posse', Bernadette. She spent the day at her lab, trying to prevent some unknown disease crossing the species barrier. She described it as a quite violent, infesting disease, so both Amy and Penny were happy that she was there instead of with them.

About 5 minutes into Babylon 5, both Penny and Amy were interrupted by the continuous noise coming from out in the hallway.

"This is ridiculous," said Amy, as she pounced to her feet. "It's midday on Saturday, why aren't people doing other stuff, like being quiet". She muddled, as she stood on her tippy toes and looked through the peephole in Apartment 4A.

"Hoo"

"What is it?" Penny asked.

"Hooooo" This 'hoo' was prolonged, and made Penny curious about what she was so excited about.

"Amy? What is it?" Penny nudged Amy out of the way and opened the door. Her voice came to a halt, and all her words being suddenly replaced with a concoction of letters all pushed together.

The rather muscular, bespectacled one was the first to turn around, after hearing the door latch.

"Hey" he said, putting down the box he was carrying, and walking towards Penny.

"Hoo" Amy and Penny both managed to mumble at the same time.

"What's your name?" he asked.

Penny felt shivers down her spine, as the very attractive male put out his hand. He was about the same height as her, with his hair spiked up. His glasses were plain black, and his tanned skin worked in very nicely with the chocolate brown colour of his hair. All Penny kept thinking was "hoo", but managed to contain herself from voices her mixed emotions. By now Amy was a mess, she still stood, in her knee long skirt, and four layers of sweater vests. The man still held out his hand, waiting for Penny to return the gesture. After noticing that he was offering his hand to her, she stuck hand out, firmly grasping his, taking him by surprise.

"Pen…" she mumbled, as her voice crackled "Ny, Penny. My name is Penny." She managed to get out.

"I'm Leonard, dorky I know" he said, still holding Penny's hand. Penny pulled her hand away, as she could feel the sweat beads forming.

"I think it's a lovely name." Penny smiled, as she tried to sound as cool as she could.

"Nice to meet you Penny, and…"

"That's Amy, her name is Amy" Penny repeated, as Amy just nodded, she knew that she was struggling standing, let along actually producing words other than 'hoo'.

"Well, I guess we are your new neighbours" Leonard smiled.

"We?" Penny asked. 

"Oi Sheldon, come out here!" Leonard yelled into Apartment 4B, whilst picking up the box filled with fitness equipment. Penny and Amy both looked at each other, until their eyes were immediately drawn to the tall man standing in the doorframe. His smile was as bright as the sun, and eyes as blue as the sea. Amy quivered, grabbing onto Penny's arm, as he legs turned to jelly. Both of their muscles were as wide as Penny's legs, and they both had tank tops on. Tank tops were hot.

"Hello" the tall one said. Both the girls nodded and waved. Sheldon turned around and went back into his apartment.

"He's not very friendly" Leonard laughed, as he packed more equipment into the box. "Well its nice to meet you, I guess we will see you later."

Leonard walked into his apartment, carrying a few boxes at the time, and closing the door behind him.

"They seem nice" Penny said, noticing Amy, still a ball of goo, using the wall to hold herself upright. "Quick Amy, we are missing Babylon 5"

"Okay, okay. You go ahead, I am just going to go for a shower, and brush me teeth, for a while." Amy said, suspiciously, as she hurried off down the hall towards the bathroom.

Penny thought the guys were really nice, she really liked the Leonard fellow, he was so nice towards her, and didn't instantly judge her like every other guy like that she had ever talked to. She liked that in a guy, not completely looking past her like she didn't exist.

While Amy was still in the shower, Penny decided to go and ask the boys if they were interested in watching Babylon 5 with her; I mean, who didn't love Babylon 5.

She walked across the hall, and knocked on the door, Sheldon answered almost immediately.

"What?" He said.

"Sheldon, no need to be rude." Leonard said, who was in the corner, shaking a protein shake.

"What do you want, Kenny?" He replied, completely disinterested by the current conversation.

"It's Penny, with a P." Leonard said with a big smile, and a milk moustache. Flexing his biceps, nearly made Penny weep, as he wiped the milk shake off his lip.

"I don't care, you are interrupting my workout."

"Okay, all I wanted to know, was did you want to come over and watch Babylon 5?"

"What's that?" Leonard asked. Penny was slightly shocked, but then looked at the condition of his body, and realised why he had no idea about Babylon 5.

"Ugh, it's a is an American space opera television series set between the years 2257 and 2262, and it depicts a future where Earth has sovereign states and a unifying Earth Government." Penny said confidentially, then but then disheartened as she saw the extreme confusing on look on both their faces.

"Okay, never mind, probably not the your favourite show."

"We are actually just about to watch Ridiculousness, you are welcome to join?"

"Welcome to join? Leonard, this is not okay. We have to finish our workout, then we have dates tonight. You know, with those girls we met at work, from the restaurant?" Sheldon said, annoyed at Leonard's generosity towards the strange neighbour.

"Its okay, I have to get up early for work anyways."

"Where do you work?" Leonard asked, as he washed up his shaker.

"Uh, well yeah, I am a physicist at a university."

"So you're like a doctor?" Sheldon asked, suddenly intrigued.

"Yeah, not a medical doctor, but I do have a PhD. So yeah, I am a doctor."

"That's so cool!"

"Well, yeah anyways. I'll see you guys later, enjoy your dates." Penny said, slightly disheartened, as she left, closing the door behind her.


	2. Chapter 1 - Updated

**The Personality Paradox**

**Update A/N: I am super sorry, I know most of you have already read this, with the old version, but I updated it, changed Amy and Sheldon's character's a bit; to make it more interesting. Let me know if you like it better or not? Hope this different perspective is interesting to read.**

**A/N: Well I am on School Holidays, so I thought I'd start a new fic, because I have no life. Let me know what you think, this is AU; because they are definitely not in character. Follow my instagram, if you want; lenny_tbbt! And please review, because reviews are what makes me want to keep writing 3**

"Quick Amy, grab the popcorn, Babylon 5 is about to start!"

"Penny, you know I hate Babylon 5, can't we just watch the 3 minute belly blitz on the health channel?. And move over, you are in my spot."

Penny snatched the popcorn from Amy, as she slid across the couch, and pressed play on the Foxtel controller. Amy groaned, as she had to endure another hour of her least favourite program.

It was midday on a Saturday, and this Saturday was spent the way all of their other Saturday's were spent, minus the third member of their 'posse', Bernadette. She spent the day at her lab, trying to work out how to improve weigh loss and how fast food can affect plastic surgery. She described it as a quite violent, infesting problem that someone had been diagnosed with in America, so both Amy and Penny were happy that she was there instead of with them.

About 5 minutes into Babylon 5, both Penny and Amy were interrupted by the continuous noise coming from out in the hallway.

"This is ridiculous," said Amy, as she pounced to her feet. "It's midday on Saturday, why aren't people doing other stuff, like, I don't know working out". She muddled, as she stood on her tippy toes and looked through the peephole in Apartment 4A.

"Oh, it's just the new neighbours"

"What? Really? New neighbours." Penny asked, excited.

"Hooooo" Amy repeated, as she got a good look at the very attractive men standing next door. This 'hoo' was prolonged, and made Penny curious about what she was so excited about.

"Amy? Who is it?" Penny nudged Amy out of the way and opened the door. Her voice came to a halt, and all her words being suddenly replaced with a concoction of letters all pushed together.

The rather muscular, bespectacled one was the first to turn around, after hearing the door latch.

"Hey" he said, putting down the box he was carrying, and walking towards Penny.

"Hoo" Amy and Penny both managed to mumble at the same time.

"What's your name?" he asked.

Penny felt shivers down her spine, as the very attractive male put out his hand. He was about the same height as her, with his hair spiked up. His glasses were plain black, and his tanned skin worked in very nicely with the chocolate brown colour of his hair. All Penny kept thinking was "hoo", but managed to contain herself from voices her mixed emotions. The man still held out his hand, waiting for Penny to return the gesture. After noticing that he was offering his hand to her, she stuck hand out, firmly grasping his, taking him by surprise.

"Pen…" she mumbled, as her voice crackled "Ny, Penny. My name is Penny." She managed to get out.

"I'm Leonard, dorky I know," he said, still holding Penny's hand. Penny pulled her hand away, as she could feel the sweat beads forming.

"I think it's a lovely name." Penny smiled, as she tried to sound as cool as she could.

"Nice to meet you Penny, and…"

"That's Amy, her name is Amy" Penny repeated, as Amy just nodded, she knew that she was disinterested by the bespectacled hottie, and just interested in going back inside.

"Well, I guess we are your new neighbours" Leonard smiled.

"We?" Penny asked. 

"Oi Sheldon, come out here!" Leonard yelled into Apartment 4B, whilst picking up the box filled with fitness equipment. Penny and Amy both looked at each other, until their eyes were immediately drawn to the tall man standing in the doorframe. His smile was as bright as the sun, and eyes as blue as the sea. Amy's eyes were immediately drawn to the tall man, and suddenly entered the same state of 'wow' that Penny was in. Amy quivered, grabbing onto Penny's arm, as he legs turned to jelly. Both of their muscles were as wide as Penny's legs, and they both had tank tops on. Tank tops were hot.

"Hello" the tall one said, as his eyes were also drawn towards Amy. Both the girls nodded and waved. Sheldon took one last look at Amy, and drew a small smile on his face, turned around and went back into his apartment.

"He's not very friendly" Leonard laughed, as he packed more equipment into the box. "Well its nice to meet you, I guess we will see you later."

Leonard walked into his apartment, carrying a few boxes at the time, and closing the door behind him.

"They seem nice" Penny said, noticing Amy, still a ball of goo, using the wall to hold herself upright. "Quick Amy, we are missing Babylon 5"

"Okay, okay. You go ahead, I am just going to go for a shower, and brush my teeth, for a while." Amy said, suspiciously, as she hurried off down the hall towards the bathroom.

Penny thought the guys were really nice, she really liked the Leonard fellow, he was so nice towards her, and didn't instantly judge her like every other guy like that she had ever talked to. She liked that in a guy, not completely looking past her like she didn't exist.

While Amy was still in the shower, Penny decided to go and ask the boys if they were interested in watching Babylon 5 with her; I mean, who didn't love Babylon 5.

She walked across the hall, and knocked on the door, Sheldon answered almost immediately.

"What?" He said.

"Sheldon, no need to be rude." Leonard said, who was in the corner, shaking a protein shake.

"What do you want, Kenny?" He replied, completely disinterested by the current conversation.

"It's Penny, with a P." Leonard said with a big smile, and a milk moustache. Flexing his biceps, nearly made Penny weep, as he wiped the milk shake off his lip.

"I don't care, you are interrupting my workout. Although, what's the deal with your hot friend?"

"Oh? Amy?"

"Yeah, she's banging. What does she do?" Sheldon asked, genuinely interested.

"She is a triathlon athlete. She trains a lot, but she's also a bit of a nerd, I mean, she lives with me." Penny laughed to herself, as Leonard smiled, but Sheldon completely overlooked the joke.

"Nice" Sheldon said, turning around, and walking into his room.

"Okay, all I wanted to know, was did you want to come over and watch Babylon 5?"

"What's that?" Leonard asked. Penny was slightly shocked, but then looked at the condition of his body, and realised why he had no idea about Babylon 5.

"Ugh, it's a is an American space opera television series set between the years 2257 and 2262, and it depicts a future where Earth has sovereign states and a unifying Earth Government." Penny said confidentially, then but then disheartened as she saw the extreme confusing on look on both their faces.

"Okay, never mind, probably not the your favourite show."

"We are actually just about to watch Ridiculousness, you are welcome to join?"

"Welcome to join? Leonard, this is not okay. We have to finish our workout, and then we have dates tonight. You know, with those girls we met at work, from the restaurant?" Sheldon said, as he walked back out of his room, annoyed at Leonard's generosity towards the strange neighbour.

"Its okay, I have to get up early for work anyways."

"Where do you work?" Leonard asked, as he washed up his shaker.

"Uh, well yeah, I am a physicist at a university."

"So you're like a doctor?" Sheldon asked, suddenly intrigued.

"Yeah, not a medical doctor, but I do have a PhD. So yeah, I am a doctor."

"That's so cool!"

"Well, yeah anyways. I'll see you guys later, enjoy your dates." Penny said, slightly disheartened, as she left, closing the door behind her.


	3. Chapter 2

**The Personality Paradox**

Chapter 2

**A/N: Hiya, are you guys enjoying the different perspective shown in this fanfic? Let me know in the reviews please. Thank you 3**

"Hey Sheldon" Leonard asked, pulling on a shirt as he exited the bathroom. He saw Sheldon lying on the couch, with Rob Derma's Fantasy Factory on the television, while Sheldon was pointlessly browsing through Facebook on his iPhone.

"Yussum" Sheldon replied, looking up towards Leonard as he made his way towards the kitchen.

"What do you think of our new neighbours?"

"Just as average as any other neighbours, I mean that Amy was nice I guess." Sheldon said, refocusing his attention towards his phone. "What do you think of them?"

"They seem really nice," Leonard replied, eating a piece of fruit.

What was running through Leonard's head at the time was the insecurity of why he was so intrigued by the two girls next door. Especially Penny, he didn't know why, but he didn't mind. She wasn't the kind of girl that he usually went out it. Not that he wanted to date her. Or did he. What was he saying, he only just met her, like yesterday, and he was already thinking about asking her out. Although, she wasn't the typical _easy_ girl he dated, and in saying that; maybe that wasn't a bad thing. She, her nature, attitude and personality still intrigued him. Yes, she was pretty. Gorgeous in fact, but that wasn't why he was drawn towards her. Basically, he was just sick of people thinking he was the typical _jock_, the ones who went after the easiest girl, and had nothing but sex, with no emotion, or any other connection, other than between the sheets.

"Leonard!" Sheldon yelled, after noticing he had drifted away. "Penny's at the door."

Leonard immediately refocused on the real world, and saw Penny, standing in pyjamas at the door of his apartment.

"What's up?" Leonard asked, walking towards Penny.

"Can I ask you something, weird?" Penny said, pulling Leonard outside of the doorway, and out of the view of Sheldon.

Leonard nodded, unsure of where the conversation was heading too.

"Can I borrow, ugh. Can we, borrow some toilet paper?"

Leonard almost burst in to laughter, but held it back, and let a small smile form on his face.

"Yeah of course, do I want to ask?" Leonard went back into his apartment, and got a roll of toilet paper from their pantry, he received a very strange look from Sheldon who just shook his head and looked back at the TV.

"Hey Leonard, did you want to get dinner tonight?" Penny asked, as he face turned instantly red.

"I actually have a date" Leonard said, who know felt uncontrollably bad, as Penny looked so embarrassed.

"Oh okay, thank you." Penny turned around, and headed back to their apartment, she turned back just before she walked inside, to see Leonard leaning against the wall, almost as embarrassed as Penny. She threw one last smile in his direction, then closed the door.

She had worked up all the courage in the world just to say that one sentence, and she just got cut down. He probably did have a date I mean look at him.

On the other side of the hall, Leonard stood against the opposite side of the door, slowly banging his head against the wall. He was back to his old ways, he had a meaningless date with a girl from a bar, like usual. He turned down a date with a girl that could turn into something. But then again, maybe it wouldn't. Maybe she didn't even want a relationship, especially with a guy like him. Leonard had thousands of thoughts running through his head, and they get rebounding back to those words. The words she said, did she mean them? He continued to second-guess himself. Why would someone, like her be interested in someone like him? She was beautiful, unbelievably smart, successful, and did he mention beautiful?

"Penny, would you like to come for a run with me?" Amy asked, pulling on her joggers and tying up her hair.

"No, its okay. I have a scientific report to post."

Amy grabbed her heart rate monitor, and bent over to touch her toes, stretching her calf muscles. Amy exited their apartment, and noticed Sheldon bent over outside of their apartment door repeating the same stretch she had a few minutes ago.

"Oh, hello" Amy said, noticing that Sheldon jumped a little bit as she walked up behind him.

"Hi" Sheldon said, an instant smile forming on his face.

"I'm off for a run" Amy said, "I'll see you later."

"I am going too, I'll come with you.."

They both ran down the stairs together, next to each other, engaging in friendly conversation almost immediately.

**-=0o0=-**

Leonard came home from his date, with a girl named Susie linked in his arm. They walked up the stairs together, enjoying casual conversation. As they reached the fourth floor of the apartment, the conversation stopped, and was filled with yells from apartment 4A. He unlinked his arms from his date, and knocked on the door to see if they were okay. Penny answered the door, almost immediately. She was surprised to see Leonard, but completely aware that he had a date. Although, even Susie noticed, how much he smiled when he looked at her, his smile was bigger in that very moment, then it had been all night.

"Are you okay?" He asked "I heard yelling and stuff?"

"Amy and I are just playing Halo" Penny said, as she heard a small huff from Susie, who instantly judged her from playing Halo.

Penny knew the type of girl she was, and assumed that she would be the type of girl that Leonard would have brought home tonight.

"Okay, well goodnight…" Leonard said, touching her arm, and then relinking hands with his date.

They didn't speak during the short walk from 4A to 4B, but as soon as they hit the door, Susie's lips connected with Leonards.

"Man, it must suck living next to such nerds" Susie mumbled mid kiss, which made Leonard immediately split the kiss.

"Excuse me?" Leonard said, slightly offended, "they are some of the nicest girls I've ever met."

As Leonard said this, he was even surprised at what he thought.

"Yeah, so. They play Halo, what nerds." Susie said, as she tried to reconnect her lips with his, as Leonard dogged her.

"Maybe you should go home, I have to get up early tomorrow." Leonard mumbled, completely put off by Susie's attitude towards Penny and Amy.


	4. Chapter 3

Personality Paradox – Chapter 3

Penny lay in bed, starring at the ceiling. Thinking. She totally understood why Leonard turned her down, she didn't know why she even had the idea to ask him, when she already knew the answer, and especially after seeing the girl he was with, it just confirmed her hypothesis about the only type of girls he was interested in.

She decided to get some sleep, and to stop putting herself through hell thinking about him with that girl. She didn't even know her name.

Less then 2 minutes after she closed her eyes, she heard her phone buzz on her wooden bedside table; it was a text message from Leonard.

It read 'hey'. That was all, no big elaborate message or explanation, just hey. Thought's continued to flow through her half asleep brain, about why he was texting her at 11:30pm, and more interestingly, why he wasn't with that girl.

'Hello' was her simple reply.

Less than 200 metres away, Leonard lay in his bed, doing the exact same thing as Penny, minus the girl.

After receiving a reply from Penny, he realised she was awake, and that somehow brought a small amount of joy to Leonard. He had never felt like this before, and he had only known her for two days, and it was already starting to freak him out.

Before he could reply, another message beeped through from Penny, reading 'why aren't you with that girl?'

He had the slight sense that she was jealous, but why? Why seemed to always be the question in his head, whenever anything big happened between them. She didn't like him, and why would she. He was a community collage drop out, who worked as a waiter, on minimum wage. He wasn't sure how to reply, but just decided to do something different than what he normally did, and told her the truth. He figured sticking up for the girls would get him further than saying that he slept with someone else.

'Uh, after she saw you and Amy mucking around on the Xbox, she said a few nasty things about you, and I didn't like the way she spoke about you guys, so I told her she should probably go.'

It took a few minutes to reply, but when she did, it was just an _ok_.

Leonard didn't know what this 'ok' meant. But before he could reply, a slightly longer message came through.

'Look Leonard, I know you are a really sweet guy, but you don't have to protect us. Amy and I are different, different then the rest of the world, but that's why we get on so well. We have been friends for years and we have managed to deal with being called all the names under the sun and honestly being treated like shit but the upper class. When Amy was in high school, she weighed about 300 pounds, and just imagine how many names she was called. I was the geek, who played chess in the corner of the library, and read almost every single book, spent my allowance on video games and comic books instead of clothes and makeup, and instead of going out, getting drunk and shagging every guy in the school, I stayed home on my Saturday nights and studied. Look at Amy now, she is a triathlon runner, just after our freshman graduation, we both joined a gym, I joined to support Amy, but stopped after a few weeks, but all those hurtful words, 'fat, ugly, worthless' that myself, and Amy were continuously called, only gave us the strength to continue on, and be better than ever. She lost about 150 pounds, and I got advanced entry into university after school, and that's all I dreamed of. I am only 23, but there is not one day, those words do not haunt me. We can handle ourselves, goodnight.'

He didn't know how to reply, so he didn't.

-=0o0=-

"Penny, do you want some French toast?" Amy asked, dipping her uncooked bread into the egg yolk. "Today's my treat day", Amy laughed as Penny walked down the hallway in her red robe.

"Sure"

Two pieces of yellowed covered goodness were shortly on a plate in front of her, and gone only a few minutes later.

"Leonard texted me last night, and I kind of snapped at him, and now I feel really bad." Penny blurted out, instantly gaining Amy's attention. She knew Penny was head over heads for Leonard, and loved a bit of gossip.

"Spill," she simply said.

"Well, he texted me at like 11:30pm last night, and I asked why he wasn't with that girl he brought home, and he said that when she saw us playing halo, she payed us out, and all stuff like that; so he told her to go home. But then, out of the blue, I had this urge to send him this big paragraph, which probably wasn't necessary, explaining that he didn't need to protect us, because we are used to it. And now, I just feel really bad."

As Penny finished speaking, there was a knock at the door, and Amy went to answer it. Penny wasn't bothered who it was, but as soon as Amy said "good morning Leonard", her heart just sunk; she knew why he was here.

"Uh, morning Amy. Can I speak to Penny outside?"

Amy didn't even say anything, and Penny just got up and went out, smiling.

"Morning" Penny mumbled, closing the door behind her.

"Look, I just want you to know, that the reason I sent Susie home last night, wasn't because I was trying to protect you, well not entirely. She was just a very rude person, and I didn't fancy her. Sorry if I offended you?" he said, confused, but very genuine.

"I am the one who should be apologising, I didn't mean to snap your head off in a text last night, but we are big girls Leonard, but thanks for looking out for us."

Penny turned to head inside, but Leonard reached out for her hand, pulling her back. When she awkwardly clenched his hand in reply, he let go, not wanting to make the situation worse.

"I know your type Leonard" was Penny's only reply, was left Leonard a little gutted.

"Well you obviously don't know the _real me_." He said, turning around and heading back into his apartment, those eight words, simultaneously broke Penny's heart.

**A/N: Sorry for all the Penny/Leonard focus, but otp; I really like exploring their relationship with the shoes on the other foot, I have kept some character traits from the original characters, but majority are different. Should I focus on the possible development between Sheldon and Amy, or continue the focus on the Penny (nerd) and Leonard (hunk) story lines. Please let me know what you think, and if you are enjoying it, and I also love constructive criticisms, so let me have it :p**


	5. Chapter 4

Personality Paradox – Chapter 4

"Ten, Eleven, Twelve…" Sheldon grunted, dropping the 40kg weights on the floor.

"Are we going to hit the town tonight, Lenny" Sheldon teased, as he spotted for Leonard.

"Aw, no. I think I am just going to stay home, not really feeling it tonight." Leonard said, as he stretched out his deltoid muscles.

"Don't tell me you are caught up with that silly Penny girl, come on Leonard. Keep your eyes on the prize buddy."

"Says you" Leonard snapped, "Amy has you wrapped around her little finger."

"Does not!" Sheldon immediately snapped. "Does not, does not" he repeated under his breath, slightly annoyed.

"Oh come on Sheldon, I've never seen you so smitten in your life."

Sheldon didn't reply to Leonard, because he knew he was right, and that was one thing he hated.

"Why don't you just ask her out?" Leonard said, wiping the sweat of his forehead.

"Excuse me Leonard, but I could say the same to you."

-=0o0=-

Penny walked into the lobby, with her bag thrown over her shoulder. Her first instinct was to check the mail, like she did every afternoon after work.

"How was work?" A familiar voice greeter her, as she turned around to see that it was Leonard. "This building really needs to get a built in gym" he laughed, walking next to Penny and opening his mail box.

"Why don't you bring it up the next time the landlord comes in, and while your going, he might want to fix the elevator." Penny said bluntly, after a long day dealing with Priya Koothrappali's bullshit.

Leonard disregarded Penny's annoyed tone. "What ever happened to the elevator anyways?"

"Well one day, Amy and Bernadette were mixing some type of chemical substances to test if this new brand of steroids would work to increase muscle tone, but descrease body weight or something, and they started to bubble over, I noticed that they had created a chemical reaction that would produce an extreme explosion, I picked it up to run it outside, but Louie stopped me, and let the elevator go by itself, and it blew up. So he kinda saved my life."

"Okay" Leonard mouthed, as he tried to take in everything that Penny had just said. "Who's Louie"

"The transvestite that used to live in your apartment"

"Okay" Leonard repeated.

They continued the final set of stairs in silence, until they reached the fourth floor, and parted ways. They both stood at their respective doors, fumbling with keys trying to get inside. A rush of angry crossed with embarrassment passed through Penny as she realised that she had put her car key in the door slot, and it had become jammed.

"Oh crap" Penny shouted, grasping Leonard's attention.

"Are you alright?" Leonard said, walking towards 4A.

"I am okay, I am a physicist, and I can work out how to key my key out of the door." Penny struggled for about 5 minutes, trying to get the key to budge, and Leonard tried so hard to stop himself from laughing as she continuously pulled and pulled at the door, she was no closer to solving the problem then when she started.

"Let me help you" Leonard insisted.

"No, I am fine" Penny retaliated, nudging him out of the way.

Penny let out one more groan of failure, until she came to a conclusion. "I'll just wait until Amy get's home"

"I worked at a locksmith part time while I was at school, let me help you." Leonard repeated.

Penny nodded, finally admitting defeat. Leonard gave the door one big hit with the side of his fist, whilst pulling on the key. It took two more hits, in the right spot, and the car key released its grasp from the door lock.

"Thank you" Penny said, deflated.

"Do you always do this when you are around people?" Leonard said, passing her the car key.

"Do what?"

"Not let anyone help you? Its like you have a need to be superior, and you may be a doctor, but I can also help." Leonard argued.

"Look, I am sorry, I've had a hell of a day, and I just wanted to get home and go for a shower."

"Okay, well you go for a shower, and I'll cook you dinner, meet me at my apartment in half and hour." Leonard said, closing his apartment door.

"Wait, what?" Penny yelled, hoping that he would give her more answers.

-=0o0=-

"Sheldon, is there anyway you can get out of the apartment tonight?" Leonard insisted, walking out of the bathroom.

"Don't worry, I have a date."

"Okay cool…"

"Should I ask why?"

"Penny is coming over." Leonard said as he fixed his hair in the mirror.

"Finally bit the bullet hay Lenny?" Sheldon teased, knowing that he wanted to ask her out since the day he met her.

"Oh shut up, how's Amy?"

"Wouldn't know, I not going there, going to stick with girls from clubs, and gyms. Makes everything easier."

"God, you are such a sleaze, you know you like her, just man up Sheldon. I've never seen you so smitten in your life…"

-=0o0=-

Penny had spent the last 45 minutes, getting dressed, doing her hair, makeup and everything, to make sure she looked good for Leonard. She was still over whelmed that he asked her out, but had settled on the fact that he did it out of pity towards her. Amy watched on, as Penny ran around the apartment like a headless chicken to make sure she looked okay.

"Would you just chill out, he already likes you, I don't think you need to impress him…"

"Wait, no he doesn't. Don't give me false hope Amy, why would someone like him be interested in me, he is perfect, and I am me. He just asked me out, out of pity. That's the only logical explanation."

"Did you ever think that not everything has to be logical. Did you ever consider, that a guy like Leonard, actually liked you. Penny, you are gorgeous, and any guy would be lucky to have you. Cut him some slack, not all guys are like the ones in high school. And I happen to like Leonard, he is really sweet. Now hurry up, or you will be late for your date."

Sometimes, Amy was really helpful. She seemed to always be full of amazing advice.

Penny grabbed her phone, and walked across the hall. She was nervous, more nervous then when she was in Professor Sebert's office for accidentally blowing a hole through the wall when using the laser.

She knocked, 3 times. She heard the latch unclick, as she took a deep breath. The removal of the door, revealed Leonard; standing there, in a suit, with his hair combed to the side, and a strong, amazing smelling cologne, that Penny instantly loved.

"Hello" Leonard said, wiping his hands down the side of his shirt.

"Hi" Penny replied, still standing just outside of the doorway.

Leonard stepped forward, and took Penny's hand, pulling her through the archway, and kissing her on the cheek as she walked into the apartment.

-=0o0=-

"Wow, that was amazing. Where did you learn to cook like that?" Penny said, putting her knife and fork across her plate.

Leonard stood, carrying both their plates, and picked up a packet of '10 minutes chicken' which made both of them laugh.

"I had a really nice time tonight Penny, you make great company" Leonard said, as he washed up the plates from their dinner.

"The same to you, Mr Hofstadter." Penny replied. "I better go, it's getting late and I have to work in the morning" said Penny, as she stood up and made her way towards the door.

"Leonard, thank you." Penny said, walking out the door.

"Wait, Penny. Would it be inconsiderate of me to ask for a goodnight kiss?" Leonard asked, as he lent up against the doorway.

"Leonard look.."

Penny was forced silent by the clashing of Leonard's lips against hers. It wasn't a deep kiss, but it completely over took Penny, and sent a boat load of butterflies straight into her stomach. Leonard wrapped her arms around Penny, and even he felt different, a good different. Penny felt very awkward, she didn't want Leonard to know that this was her first kiss. She wouldn't of wanted it any other way…

**A/N – Super sorry, I am very sloppy on my writing these days, struggling with writers block, and honestly can't even think about where I want this story to go. I hope you are still enjoying it, and I hope you like it. Please review, and let me know what you think **


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N – Now people who had read my other stories know that I struggle writing Amy and Sheldon stories, but I've given it ago, so tell me if its any good, if not, I'll change it to a Penny and Leonard story. **

**Sorry for no update in like 2 months, I went back to school, and University at the same time, so I was just swapped with assignments, exams and assessments. Hope you will still enjoy my stories, and I'll try and update both this, and 'When I Met You', as soon as I can :-)**

The two girls got ready to leave the apartment. Rushing around, cleaning up, and getting ready for a big day, Penny had a laser experiment, and Amy had to meet with her trainer after lunch.

"Are you right to give me a lift to the gym today? I'll walk to the university whenever you need me to help you."

"Yeah of course, but you really should thinking about getting your license, it would make everything a hell of a lot easier on me Amy."

"Driving is society's attempt at getting me to stop exercising.

"Are you still right to help me at the lab today Amy?" Penny asked, ignoring Amy's remark and pulling on a sweater.

"Sheldon wanted me to train with him today, but I told him I had to help you."

"Oh" Penny kind of felt bad, she knew how much they both liked each other. "You go with Sheldon, and I'll get Leonard to come help me, I just need someone to carry the laser from the clean room back to my lab."

"Just another excuse to spend time with Leonard"

"Do you want me to drive you?" Penny said, rhetorically and extremely defensive.

"No sorry, I'd love for you to ask Leonard so that I can spend time with Sheldon" Amy said, already blushing.

"Amy!" Penny said, smacking her arm. "You are totally falling for Sheldon!"

"I am not, I don't even like his dorky hair cut, or how tall he is. He is seriously like a foot taller than me." Amy chuckled, her cheeks becoming an even brighter red. Penny immediately noticed how she admired him.

"Go train with him today, I'll text Leonard and see if he can help me, otherwise I'll get a grad student."

-=0o0=-

"I don't know what you are going to do this session, but I have a 100km bike, swim, in a few months, so I'll be doing that." Amy said, as they both entered the gym. It was a Wednesday afternoon, so the gym was empty.

"Maybe I'll just watch you do that" Sheldon joked.

"Okay, but that will make me extremely uncomfortable." Amy replied, unsure if her was being serious or not.

"I'm joking" Sheldon said, brushing past her, noticing Amy tensing as his skin brushed against hers. "You really need to lighten up a bit" he laughed, walking over to the weights section of the gym.

"I can't believe you got me to switch gyms, I had a perfectly good thing going over at Hybrid" Amy laughed, struggling to get the cross-trainer to work.

"But my gym's so much better" Sheldon said, as he laid back on the pull-up bench.

"Why? What different here, then over there?" Amy laughed, still trying to get it to work.

"Do you need some help?" Sheldon asked, noticing Amy's struggle.

"No, I am fine"

Amy continued to try to get the machine to start, "maybe it's just broken."

Sheldon walked over, and but his arm up against the wall, as he leaned over Amy's body to push the right setting. His overwhelming cologne nearly knocked Amy off the machine.

"Thank you" she managed to mumble, as her cheeks turned bright red. Very fast.

Why was it that whenever her was near her, he could turn her legs to jelly in three seconds flat. It was actually starting to annoy her. She didn't like 'boys'. She had always been too busy training and focusing on her career to go out to parties. Amy had been living a triathlon life ever since she was 14. This meant she needed her butt in the gym, or in the ocean four weeks out of seven every week. She worked on the weekends to pay for her suits, bikes and more importantly her gym memberships. With her parents both being academics, they were never entirely happy with her getting into triathlons, and she knew that. Amy knew that if she was going to follow her dream, she needed to do it by herself.

Whereas, Sheldon was completely opposite, he had all the love and support from his family, and he really couldn't care less. He moved out of Texas at 16, got a job as a personal trainer after a year at collage, and started living his life by himself. It annoyed Amy how he had such a strong family background, and he didn't even care for it. She would have killed to have a family like he did, and would of cherished every moment.

As she watched him lift more than her entire body weight, she zoned back into reality to realise that the machine was buzzing, telling her to start moving.

As she started to hypothetically run on this machine, she could see in the mirror that he was looking at her. This had never happened to Amy before, 'male attention? What even was that?' She thought to herself.

"Amy?" Sheldon asked, lifting the 50kg weights back onto the rack.

He noticed that she was about half an hour into her workout, and had her earphones in, running on the cross trainer.

He walked over to her, and ripped one of her ear buds out of her ear, making her nearly jump into his lap, which he wouldn't of minded.

"Whoa, that was rude!" She laughed, pressing stop on the machine.

"Well I had no other way, you were too busy running, you were so focused, I thought I'd have to kiss you to break your focus."

When those words left Sheldon's lips, Amy's stomach felt like it turned over on itself. She was sure her cheeks had just turned as red as a damn fire truck.

"Cool" Amy mumbled, trying to break the prolonged time between her almost-fainting episode.

**A/N Just wondering, with this being A/U, would you guys like to see a very forward Sheldon. Like sexually active, and Amy being the one that's not ready? Or should I just try and keep it a little bit IC?**


	7. Chapter 6

"Is that something you'd like?" Sheldon said, muscles flexing as they were forced against the wall.

"Maybe" Amy replied, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Well yes, or no?" He said, basically breathing his hot breathe on Amy's neck, sending shivers down her spine.

"Look, we are just friends Sheldon, it doesn't have to get complicated."

"Oh right!" He said, rebounding off the wall, almost embarrassed.

He went back over and picked up the weights again, and they ended up completely ignoring each other for the rest of the hour.

"Oh hey!" Penny exclaimed, as Leonard entered the lab.

"Hi, nice glasses!" He laughed. "That's my thing…"

"They are safety glasses mister, unless you want your corneas burned out, I suggest you wear some too!"

"Maybe I want my corneas burned out, did you ever care to ask?" He laughed, reaching for a spare pair of safety glasses.

"Suit yourself" Penny joked, as she switched the laser on. The table started to vibrate, and a sharp red light started to flash. Moments later a red beam of 'laser' shot out of the cannon, hitting the backboard and clearly blowing straight through it.

"And what was the point of that?" Leonard asked, removing his safety glasses.

"I'm just trying different variations on Young's Experiment…"

"I know that I shouldn't ask this, but what's young's experiment?" He asked, sarcastically, and instantly regretting it.

In 1801, Young devised and performed an experiment to measure the wavelength of light. The difficulty with confronting Young was that the usual light sources of the day could not serve as coherent light sources. Young's method involved using sunlight that entered the room through a pinhole in a window shutter. A mirror was used to direct the pinhole beam horizontally across the…"

"Penny, stop" Leonard laughed, "what did you need a hand with?"

"Just taking this back to my lab, sorry"

"No, its okay. I just didn't understand a word of that!" Leonard said, grabbing the first part of the machine as Penny unplugged it.

"You could always expand your learning? There's community collages that do degrees around town, you could check that out?" Penny exclaimed, almost excited.

"No, that really doesn't sound like me, sorry Penny" Leonard mumbled.

"Okay then" Penny said, disheartened.

"So where did you want me to put this?" Leonard burst out, changing the subject.

"Back at my lab, if that's okay. It's just down the hall, follow me." Penny said, leading the way down the hallway back to her lab. She pulled keys from her pocket, unlocking the door and entering. It was filled with so much more fancy equipment that almost scared Leonard.

"Wow!" Leonard exclaimed, entering the lab filled with big machines and more lasers.

"Just put that on the table. Thanks for your help Leonard."

"Anytime, you know I was thinking. When you asked me out the other night and I was busy, you know?"

"Yeah I know, and I didn't really ask you out, I was just wondering if you wanted to get dinner." Penny defended.

"Same thing" Leonard laughed. "But I am not busy tonight, I mean… Penny, would you go to dinner with me tonight?"

"Okay" Penny mumbled.

"Okay, I'll be over about 7pm, see you later!" Leonard said walking out of her lab.

Penny immediately picked up her phone, and sent a text to Amy. 'Shit, Leonard just asked me out to dinner; what do I do?'

Amy instantly replied with 'I'm home, get here quickly, we have lots of work to do!'

It wasn't long after that Penny was back at the apartment. As she ran up the stairs, Amy greeted her at the doorway.

"Spill!" Amy yelled, pulling her into the apartment.

It was 6:30pm, and Amy and Penny had spent the last 45 minutes getting 'glammed' up.

"Okay, I think we're good. Have a look on the mirror!"

Penny turned to see her reflection in the body length mirror. As she turned, the view of her long legs in a light blue, tight fight dress with her blonde hair curled and just sitting on her shoulders. The dress hugged her curves, and the light makeup that complemented her blue eyes.

"Wow" she mumbled. "Thank you Amy" Penny said, smiling from ear to ear.

"It's almost 7, are you nervous?" Amy asked, as she untucked a small crimple in Penny's dress.

"Why? We are just friends"

"Okay, just friends?" Amy said, sarcastically with air quotes.

"Oh shut up" Penny bit back. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

Penny walked out, after she forced Amy to stay in her bedroom. As she opened the door, Leonard's eyes shot open as they met Penny's.

"Hello!" He said, rebounding off the wall and shooting up straight.

"Hi" Penny replied, immediately embarrassed. There was an awkward silence as Leonard shuffled his tie around his neck, slightly loosening it.

"Let's go?" He asked, as he headed towards the top of the stairs.

Penny nodded, as Leonard grabbed her hand, helping her down the stairs. "You really look amazing" Leonard suggested, gripping her hand tightly.

"Thanks, it was all Amy"

"Well, I'll have to let Sheldon know, he is totally crushing!" Leonard laughed, as they walked down the streets of Pasadena.

"Amy isn't like that, I don't think anyways."

"What? So she's a lesbian?" Leonard asked, almost surprised.

"No, no. She's just always been so focused on her career, and never really been involved in the party life. She's had boyfriends, but they've all be triathlon runners, and it never lasted."

"Oh, fair enough" Leonard laughed.

"That was a beautiful dinner, how was your steak?" Penny asked as they walked back down the street towards their building.

"Actually great, your pasta looked very nice, how was it?" Leonard replied, as he grasped Penny's hand once more, almost at the doors to the building. They entered the lobby, and headed straight up the green stairs.

"Yeah, it was lovely. It was such a cute little restaurant!"

After the almost silent, walk up the stairs filled with small talk, they reached the 4th floor.

"Thanks for a great night Leonard!" Penny said, as Leonard stepped closer to Penny.

"Yeah, it was amazing" Leonard mumbled, breathing a hot steam on the Penny's neck. He kept taking steps closer towards the wall, as Penny also moved backwards to distance herself from Leonard. He pressed her against the wall, running his hands down her back. Their tongues met in the fiery kiss. The heat between their lips made a moan escape Penny's lips. He gently caressed her neck, pulling Penny closer. He moved his hands to her waist, deepening the kiss. They both breathed heavily as their tongues grazed each other.

Suddenly, Penny grabbed Leonard's hips and pushed him backwards separating the kiss.

"Leonard, stop." She mumbled, catching her breath.

"What?" Leonard chuckled.

"I'm not like the girls you usually bring home, okay?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Leonard defended, distancing the gap between him and Penny.

"I'm not just going to jump into bed with you." Penny said quietly, leaning back against the wall.

"And I didn't expect you too? What made you think that? Cut me some slack Penny."

"I'm not like that" Penny mumbled, seriously embarrassed.

"I know your not, and I am not like I was." He exclaimed, quietly yelling.

"And who were you?"

"You want to know the truth?"

"Please!" Penny demanded.

"I wasn't happy with who I was either, so I changed. I cut out the drinking and partying, and the sleeping with random girls. And you want to know why? Because I started to like a girl who was smart, beautiful and too good for me. I had to pick up the game. Sorry for trying to be a better person!" Leonard defended, turned to walk into his apartment.

"Goodnight" Penny mumbled, with watery eyes.

"Goodnight" Leonard said as he turned around and gave Penny a kiss on the cheek, then turned, and entered his apartment.

Penny walked into her apartment, to greet a impatient Amy sitting on the couch.

"Tell me everything!"

**A/N Drama drama drama drama DRAMA! Gah, what do you think of the Leonard and Penny tension, and how would you like it to work out? Let me know with a review yay! xx**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N The rating has been changed from T to M from now on, so if you don't feel comfortable reading M rated or mature themes, probably just watch out. It won't be constant, but there will be smut in certain scenes, whether or not this is a chapter with it or not, I don't know because I always write my first AN's before I write the chapter! Hope you still enjoy, if the M rated material doesn't suit most of the readers and reviews, I can remove it, and just focus on the mature themes in my other fic; just review and tell me what you think **

"You first!" Penny demanded, wiping away the tears from the corner of her eyes.

"Well, we were at the gym today, and Sheldon totally hit on me" Amy replied, not as excited or as happy as Penny thought she would be.

"And that's a bad thing?"

Both Amy and Penny were confused about their current situations, unsure of where they stood with their respective partners.

"No, it's not a bad thing, but I don't think it's a good thing either. We only just met, we are friends, but I just think he wants something more than that…"

"And you don't want something more as well?" Penny said, knowing full well how much Amy liked Sheldon.

"Well I guess, it's Sheldon; he's gorgeous. But like I said, we only just met, and I really have to focus on my career, and I can't let silly relationships get in the way of that stuff, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I defiantly know…"

"Well, how did your date with Leonard go?" Amy said, cheerfully as she changed the topic.

"The date itself was amazing, but then afterwards we were kissing, and it started to get like really… you know. So I stopped it." Penny said, as the tears started to swell once more.

"Wait, you were kissing. Like kissing, _kissing_?" Amy said.

"Yes, _kissing, kissing!" _Penny defended.

"Well why are you over here? What the hell happened, you totally like him!"

"Yeah exactly, I do like him. But I accidentally pointed out that I wasn't going to just jump into bed with him. And that offended him. Hence my position in this conversation…"

"Well how are you going to fix it?"

"I don't know" Penny replied, flicking the tears out from above her rosy red cheeks.

"Just apologise, Leonard likes you, and you are in the wrong, so just man up!" Amy laughed, pulling Penny into a hug.

"Well what do I say?" Penny said, "You know that I am clueless about the male species."

"And you think I am any better?" Amy laughed, "just go talk to him!"

"Okay, but if I make this worse, its all on you" Penny laughed, walking out of their apartment and across the half to Leonard's place.

Penny slowly knocked on the door, four or so times, until Leonard's face was revealed from behind the door.

"Hello," he quietly said, opening the door wider to allow Penny to enter their apartment. When she walked in, Penny noticed Sheldon sitting on the couch watching some time of MTV reality TV show.

"Can we talk in private?" Penny whispered in Leonard's ear, as he pulled her into his bedroom.

"What's up?" He asked. Penny could tell that he was still annoyed from before.

"I just wanted to talk." Penny mumbled, trying to hold back to tears.

"Okay, so talk!"

Penny had immediately noticed Leonard's _asshole _side coming out, he was really starting to annoy her.

"Don't be like that. I'm really sorry Leonard…"

"Don't be like what? Like the guy you thought I was? A root and boot sort of personality. Is that seriously who you take me for, Penny. I thought I meant more to you than that!"

"Well you can't blame me, in the 3 weeks before our first date after you moved in, I saw 17 girls leave your apartment, okay. That's more than bloody Tony Stark! If that's who you want to be, that's fine with me. But that's not who I am!" Penny's eyes filled with tears as her cheeks went bright red out of anger and frustration.

'Where was the guy that she went on a date with? Or was that just his plot to get me in his bed.' Penny thought to herself, there were so many things in her head right now, everything she ever thought about Leonard had suddenly changed in one small argument.

"Yep, that was me. But if you can't believe that I've changed, than this will never work"

"Prove to me that you've changed." Penny whispered, a strange wave of courage ran through her veins.

"What? Like take you out on dates and stuff?" Leonard had noticed that she had switched the roles in the conversation. He was no longer in control, and Penny knew that. Time to do what he did best, charm. "Cause I would, I'd do anything for you, Penny"

"Be faithful to me."

"What happened to the shy physicist? First your blocking me off, and now you want to start a relationship? Not that I'm complaining.." Leonard defended, playing along with Penny's game.

"I never said anything about a relationship, but if that's something you want"

"Damn, you are good! They don't call you a physicist for nothing!"

"Well tell me what you are going to do about it?" Penny mumbled, almost in a seductive tone.

"Whoa, where has my sweet innocent Penny gone, what happened in the last 15 minutes? And I show, not tell."

"Well show me"

"Are you sure you want me to do that? Last time you bit my head off, so don't do that again."

"What? Are you scared of me?" Penny exclaimed, taking small steps towards Leonard.

"Should I be?" He replied, equally moving forward, closing the distance between the few.

"We will find out…"

Leonard's breath was like ice burgs on Penny's skin, sending shivers down her spine, igniting goose bumps on her skin.

Leonard's lips connected with Penny's neck, eliciting a moan from her lips.

"Hey Leonard" Penny managed to say between moans as his lips explored her neck and chin.

"Mhmm"

"I'm a virgin." Penny said, hoping that it wouldn't ruin what he thought about her.

"I know" he simply replied, eventually finding her lips as they both sat down on the bed.

"Wait." Penny said, detaching her lips from his, unsure of his answer. "How do you know that?"

"It's easy to tell" Leonard replied.

"Really?" Penny replied, slightly offended. "How?"

"Well it's just different"

"Different from all your other slutty girlfriends?" Penny exclaimed, now at the stage where she knew she shouldn't have brought that up again, but couldn't help it. Leonard's face went blank, completely annoyed and almost angry at the words that escaped Penny's lips.

"I think you should go." Leonard said, standing up and distancing himself from Penny.

"Leonard, I didn't mean it like that…"

"It's okay, I'll see you tomorrow Penny."

Penny walked out, once again not even acknowledging Sheldon who didn't seem interesting in anything at the moment.

**A/N Man, I have been having serious writers block lately. This sucks.**

**Review please **


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